Shimojo, an expert in visual
perception, sensory integration and development, and decision-making in humans will
describe several relevant aspects of implicit cognitive processes and
what went wrong in the energy policy and the safety management at
nuclear plants in Japan. He will do so by exploring the dichotomy between
individualism in Western cultures vs. collectivism in East Asian cultures,
which has long been the cardinal axis of research and debate in
comparative cultural-neuropsychology.

Shimojo is the principal investigator
at the Shimojo Psychophysics Laboratory at Caltech, which aims to bridge the
gap between cognitive science and neuroscience and examines how the brain
adapts to real-world constraints to resolve perceptual ambiguity and to reach
ecologically valid, unique solutions. The laboratory applies quantitative
psychophysical techniques to understand human implicit and social behaviors,
with technical applications, including eye tracking, Transcranial Magnetic
Stimulation (TMS) and Electroencephalography
(EEG), as well as more traditional psychophysical paradigms. The
laboratory also focuses on crossmodal integration and visual
preference/attractiveness decisions.

Among his publications, Shimojo is
co-editor of the Oxford Series in Visual
Cognition volume, The Science of
Social Vision (2010).

His recent awards include the 2008 Nakayama
Grand Prix, for significant contributions to science of emotion and the 2004
Japanese Neuroscience Society’s Tokizane Memorial Award for discovery of new
perceptual phenomena related to visual contours and surfaces, as well as
investigation.

Shimojo earned his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the University of Tokyo and his Ph.D. from MIT.